MacMall

Full review
I have ordered from this company for years without incident, but this last time will be my last. I did not believe it was possible for a (supposedly) reputable company to behave this badly.

1. Rebates not honored: After my order was delayed, the website kept insisting I did not qualify for any rebates, despite the fact that they were advertised in the catalogue and the sales rep had told me I did. Numerous phone calls and holds later, the rep finally e-mailed me rebate forms that I qualified for. However these rebates had very short turn around, much earlier than the dates advertised in the catalogue. My shipment had been delayed (see below) and my rebate form was postmarked 1 day late. Mac Mall simply sent generic letters saying I "did not qualify" for any rebates (which combined totaled $229) without any reference number or recourse. Surfing the web reveals this practice seems to be commonplace with this company.

2. Attempts to return merchandise are stonewalled: In another incident a sales rep convinced me to buy a more expensive item than I needed, because the item i needed was not in stock, and I needed it immediately. He assured me the item would ship that day. It didn't. I had paid more for an item than I needed, and paid for Overnight Shipping, but the order didn't leave Mac Mall. I had to buy the item locally. So I never opened the item, and called Mac Mall to return it. I called at 6 a.m. ET to try to avoid the long hold times that seem to be common there now. I was told there was no supervisor who could authorize a return and to call back in an hour. I did, and an hour after that and each time waited on hold for more than a half-hour before giving up. The first call was at 4 a.m. PT where Mac Mall is located. I find it highly suspicious that after I declared I wanted to return merchandise I could no longer get through. Again, surf the web and you will find that I am not alone.

3. Shipment held up: Okay, granted I was in the middle of moving, and apparently my change of address and the size of my purchase (a new computer) triggered the Fraud Prevention department. However, no amount of explaining would get them to deviate from "policy" of not shipping to my new address until I could provide documentation, which did not exist yet. Absolutely maddening. I cannot be the first person who's moved. Finally a rep from a higher up company called and authorized the order, but this was after multiple phone calls and I finally just about lost it, facing the brick wall of "policy."

4. Multiple erroneous credit authorizations wreaked havoc with my credit card: Apparently what happened was Mac Mall put an authorization for the charge amount, then failed to remove it when they actually charged the order. I understand now that this is because the items shipped separately. Apparently *normally* the authorization gets removed when the order is charged because they are for the same amount. However the separate shipments screwed this up. Which caused my credit card to go over limit, other charges to be refused, etc. This again took hours (I an not exaggerating ... I made 4 calls to Mac Mall, holding for 20 - 30 minutes each time, and 3 calls to my credit card ... I logged the time on my cell phone) to sort out, and the Mac Mall reps went, during this time, from unhelpful to downright condescending and belligerent. When, finally, in a conference call to the credit card it was revealed that I had been right all along, the Mac Mall rep didn't even apologize. I asked for a supervisor and asked for some kind of goodwill credit or any kind of compensation for all the trouble their error had caused and she said no, they didn't do anything like that.

and finally ...

5. The sales rep incorrectly charged sales tax on my order (to the tune of $400+ dollars) which again, only after more phone calls from me, and more waiting on hold, was I able to get the charges reversed.

This may seem unbelievable. Believe it or not I had no axe to grind coming into this order, and I'm still shocked that a company could screw up this badly, but it happened.

This is the first time I have been angry and frustrated enough to post a review of this merchant. I am not in the habit of doing this.

However the refusal of rebate (and the disputed return is still pending with my credit card company) has pushed me over the edge.

I can only hope this review will save someone the trouble I have had with this company, and steer business away from a merchant who clearly does not care about customer satisfaction, at least nowadays.

Thank you for reading.